Louisville Cardinals Picked to Win AAC, Who Will Challenge Them?

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY SportsThe Cardinals are the favorites to win the AAC.

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In their lone season in the American Athletic Conference, the Louisville Cardinals are expected to win the conference title.

This should come as no surprise as the Cardinals return the majority of their 2012-13 championship squad this season and have little competition in the AAC.

According to GoCards.com, Louisville received nine of the 10 possible votes for first place in the conference—UConn received the remaining vote.

Outside of UConn, Memphis (which was one point shy of ousting UConn for second in the conference), and Cincinnati, the Cardinals should not have much trouble in their efforts to capture a second consecutive conference title.

They are the only team in the Top 10 not to be in a power conference—one loss and they could take a major dip in the polls and even further in seeding for the tournament. Louisville will have to "pick its losses" wisely.

The nonconference schedule for Rick Pitino's flock is fairly light. With the exception of possibly facing No. 11 North Carolina at the Hall of Fame Classic in Uncasville, Conn. in November and No. 1 Kentucky in December, Louisville could have a clean sweep of its nonconference opponents.

Memphis and UConn are ranked No. 13 and No. 19, respectively. Both the Tigers and Huskies should provide ample competition for Louisville in an otherwise deficient conference.

Huskies senior guard Shabazz Napier has not played well against the Cardinals in the past. Napier has shot just 16-of-47 in four games against Louisville. This season, he'll have a chip on his shoulder and Huskies second-year coach Kevin Ollie will have his squad prepared to give their conference rival a challenge.

Memphis can also put a hole in the Cardinals' plans to take the conference crown.

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The Tigers offer Louisville a formidable foe.

The Tigers ran the table in Conference USA in 2012-13 when they amassed a 16-0 record in the conference and went 31-5 overall. Tigers guard Joe Jackson can help his team play the role of spoilers if the Tigers can play the similar lockdown defense they did last season when they earned the Conference USA title.

Memphis will give Louisville fits, as the two teams battle to win consecutive conference titles.

The road to earning the crown of the AAC shouldn't be filled with many snags, but Louisville can't afford to stall while attempting that climb.